While Ohio University students and their countless visitors were busy festing the weekend away in the heart of Athens last weekend, the Athens County Sheriff’s Office spent its week responding to numerous incidents throughout the county.
The Sheriff's Office was called to the Coolville boat ramp location for reports of a “suspicious vehicle” on more than one occasion during the week, at one point of which deputies observed a car “doing doughnuts” in the parking lot.
Deputies approached the four vehicles — three of which were from West Virginia — before issuing two of the drivers criminal charges for “tearing up the grass” around the parking lot. Four of the individuals were issued forms to prevent them from returning to the boat ramp, according to the report.
High-speed hijinks
Deputies found themselves engaged in a high-speed chase last Wednesday when the department was contacted by the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, which requested assistance in locating a vehicle at the Torch roadside rest area that was purported to belong to a man sought for crimes in the county.
The vehicle was found at the rest area at about 4:10 a.m., but when deputies entered the building about 15 minutes later, the man fled in his car “at a high rate of speed,” leading multiple police departments on a chase near Belpre, where stop sticks were set up. The suspect vehicle avoided the stop sticks, however, changing directions and fleeing onto an exit into West Virginia, where deputies were forced to terminate their pursuit.
Later reports, however, note that the chase continued when the suspect allegedly stole a vehicle in West Virginia and was pursued back into Ohio, where he drove through Athens County and into Meigs County, where Athens deputies waited on county lines with tire deflation devices ready in case the suspect tried to re-enter. The suspect was eventually apprehended in Meigs County, according to the report.
Treasure hunter
While on patrol at about 6 a.m. Friday, officers from the Athens Police Department observed a man’s legs “hanging out of the driver’s side” of a parked vehicle in the northwest neighborhood of Athens. Upon contacting the man, officers learned he was “ransacking that vehicle” and taking spare change, according to the police report.
After detaining the man, officers discovered he possessed an active arrest warrant, and he was taken into custody. According to the report, the man’s pockets were filled with “various items” from other vehicles, including $4 worth of spare change and a gemstone. The 34-year-old was transported to Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail, and he was arraigned on failure to appear on a fifth degree felony theft charge. He was also charged with misdemeanor theft and criminal mischief, according to the report, which notes the department expects more victims to come forward in the case.
